The present invention relates generally to apparel ventilation systems, and more particularly, to air bladder systems that may be incorporated with any apparel, accessory, or protective equipment to provide pressurized airflow to moderate the temperature of an individual.
Many professionals work in conditions where the usage of apparel and equipment prevent relief from extreme temperatures. For example, fire fighters and racecar drivers have to wear protective clothing that is heavy and impervious to moisture and gases. Many athletes wear heavy equipment, such as football or hockey protective gear. Such heavy equipment or protective clothing can lead to a person""s body overheating.
In order to prevent overheating, ventilation systems have been developed that attempt to provide air flow to cool an individual in this type of situation. However these known systems have prohibitive drawbacks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,119 to Zafred discloses a system, which uses high-pressure, porous tubes placed throughout insulating layers in a garment. Liquid carbon dioxide is added to the tubes, which is released in gaseous form to cool the wearer of the garment. However, the bulky tubing throughout the garment can be rigid and cause inflexibility of the garment and also discomfort for the wearer. For example, this type of tubing could injure a football player who is constantly hit and thrown to the ground. Because the tubes can be rigid and inflexible, there exists the possibility that the tubes will deteriorate and need to be replaced more often than a non-rigid type of device. In addition, the tubing and insulating layers surrounding the tubing add bulk to the cooling device creating heavier clothing and increasing the amount of cooling to be done. Further, the system does not always fit into the apparel or equipment for which the system may be required. The cooling system disclosed in Zafred also includes numerous parts, which require assembly, therefore, making it more expensive to manufacture.
Another known system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,519 to Weber. The Weber patent discloses a two-layered garment for the medical profession with an outer layer being impermeable to air and an inner layer being air permeable. Air flows between the layers and reaches the body of the wearer through the inner, permeable layer. A disadvantage of this type of system is that there is no directed air flow. Additionally, if too much air is supplied to the garment, the amount of air holes throughout the garment may cause the garment to inflate, causing discomfort or inflexibility to the wearer. Also, due to the number of holes in the garment, a very large amount of air may be needed for the wearer to feel any type of cooling sensation.
Consequently, there exists a need for an apparel ventilation system that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a ventilation system that delivers conditioned pressurized airflow for the regulation and/or moderation of temperature of the human body. The present invention provides a ventilation system that is not thick and bulky and can, therefore, lie flat when it is not in use. The present invention also provides a ventilation system that is comfortable to the user and has good air flow characteristics. The present invention further provides a ventilation system that has fewer parts and solid fittings, a simpler assembly and is, therefore, less expensive to manufacture.
Briefly, the present invention is directed to a pressurized ventilation system for providing air to a body of an individual wearing the ventilation system to regulate the temperature of the body. The ventilation system may comprise an air bladder defining an enclosed volume formed by a first wall and a second wall, the air bladder having a plurality of channels located between the first and second walls for permitting air flow throughout the air bladder, the channels include a plurality of apertures which extend through the first wall for permitting the escape of air out of the air bladder through the first wall. The ventilation system also includes a device for providing pressurized air to the air bladder.